Star Wars_ Coruscant Nights III_ Patterns of Force - Michael Reaves [79]
“Yes. He was.”
Jax rose, realizing his face was wet. He wiped it on the sleeve of his tunic. “We’re going after the Emperor, I-Five.”
The droid’s display of surprise seemed to involve his entire body. “Why?”
“Because no one else can.”
PART II
THE TIES THAT BIND
eighteen
Jax’s sudden reversal was inexplicable and devastating to Rhinann’s fragile peace of mind. He vaguely heard the whys and wherefores—something about a message from Jax’s father, a message that was no doubt a trick played by that wretched, conniving droid—but he tuned them out and went to his own quarters where he did the only thing he could think of that would both calm him and allow him some clarity of thought.
He made a list.
He itemized the reasons for and against I-Five having either hidden the bota or given it to various members of the team. Roughly half an hour of this pursuit left him with several strong possibilities. Too many, in fact.
First, hiding the bota made no sense at all. The recent forced move from the apartments on Poloda Place revealed the bankruptcy of that stratagem.
Second, it made no sense for the droid to keep the bota himself. He’d be a fool to carry it into enemy territory where it could be lost to the last person on the planet he wanted to have it.
Dejah’s reaction to his revelation about the bota rang true. He was positive that she’d known nothing of it before.
That left Jax and Den.
Den’s protests to the contrary, Jax could hardly be expected to resist the temptation of taking the bota, but Rhinann suspected that I-Five—who was loyal to a fault—no doubt trusted the Jedi’s professions of self-control. In fact, I-Five likely believed that if his assassination attempt failed, Jax having the bota would be the only way to salvage the operation.
Den was leaving. Dejah had been sure he’d already left, but the Sullistan had made it clear that his mind was made up. Perhaps it was I-Five’s plan to have him take the bota with him wherever he was going. Certainly Rhinann could see a certain advantage to getting the substance away from people who were likely to come into close contact with Inquisitors, Darth Vader, or the Emperor. If the assassination plan went horribly awry, Den Dhur could pop out of hiding and get the bota to one of the Jedi or, failing that, use it as leverage to secure their release.
So which was it? The Jedi or the Sullustan?
He suspected the Jedi and hoped for the Sullustan, for surely it would be easier to get the substance away from the latter.
Rhinann considered his options. They were two: leave and forever give up the possibility of experiencing the Force, or stay and await an opportunity to remove the bota from whoever had it.
He had waited so long, borne so patiently with danger, served the “cause” so selflessly, that leaving now seemed a waste. Besides, escape was but an airspeeder ride away, thanks to a grateful soul within Black Sun whom he’d had occasion to befriend. The service came at a price, but it would be worth it. The airspeeder, which would bear him to the spaceport in less than an hour, was available at a moment’s notice, day or night.
Stay, then. He might even be able to persuade the carrier of the bota that giving him the stuff in a dire situation would be the best way to preserve it. Now, if only a dire situation would present itself.
“You shouldn’t be involved, Jax.”
Jax kept his eyes and mind focused on the little field generator he was in the process of prying from the light sculpture on the living room of their abandoned conapt.
“I’m surprised at you, I-Five. You saw that hologram my father left—”
“Actually, I didn’t. Lorn had put me in autonomic mode for its delivery. It was set to play when triggered by a certain phrase. One of the few ways I can still be manipulated like an ordinary droid.”
“Whatever—you heard me describe it. How can you listen to that and expect me not to be involved? My